Walking markers
For my final project in the Walking Chicago Discover class my first thought as to what I wanted to do was to look more in depth into how technology affects the way people walk, but as I thought about it more I realized that the overall movement and paths of those that are walking would be a much more prevalent topic to explore. The first thing I did was I drew an outline of the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus to the best of my ability. I then went on my walk and pinpointed as many people as I could during the rush hour of classes over a period of 2 days at the designated locations that I chose. I represented the people walking by small dots and an arrow showing the direction they were going. De Certeau claims in his book Walking in the city [Discover] that “The operations of walking on can be traced on city maps in such a way as to transcribe their paths.” In this quote De Certeau tells us that walking in the city can be recorded in such a way as to be used to evaluate certain directions and paths we take to get to a designated destination essentially leaving our mark as someone of the city.
Which brings me to the story I am trying to portray in my map which is one that gives us the direction of people walking during a very hectic time of the day leaving their path on our city. This is supposed to show us that everyone is on their own set route or have a designated destination in mind. That everyone leaves their invisible mark while on their walk. The purpose of the map that I drew was to record the exact moments were I saw someone going their own direction, wherever they were headed, taking in the things around them. The tiny birds that could fit in the palm of your hand, the rubber tires driving across the rigid roads kicking up small black rocks along the way, the yellow and brown leaves shaped like canoes falling slowly to rest gently on the cement sidewalks. Every person I recorded on my map was going in a particularly different direction that no one else was going down. Malchik states in the article The End of walking, “Walking is a complex interconnection of cognitive processes and sensory inputs.” In this quote Malchik tells us that walking is something more than just a way to get exercise, it is a natural way to find a path to get to a certain destination. It is also most importantly a way to connect mind, body, and your surroundings. The walkers on my map all having their own personal direction. They are moving at their own pace and time which makes their walk to whatever their destination may be making it much more personal and interconnected to their surroundings.
This map is supposed to help create a picture of how active the DePaul campus is, the students, professors, and even the dog walkers and “passer-bys”. The overall mood of my map I would say is more serious because it reminds me a lot of a blueprint, with movements of my peers and strangers. My reasoning behind this is because when you leave to start your walk towards somewhere you would usually have a set route in mind to your destination. An envision of where you are going to go much like a blueprint where you have a set idea in mind then you actively try and complete that specific idea of your destination.
The drawn map is of the Lincoln Park Campus, but the points where I recorded people walking were from several locations around campus. I would sit or stand at the specific locations where I knew I would be able to see lots of people and would stay there for around 15–20 minutes at a time recording the points and directions that people were walking towards. These places where I would stop and record my points are represented as stars on my map. The relative area of where my map is located is at the center of the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus which in the middle includes the Schmitt Academic Center, The Quad, Library, University Hall, and both McGowan buildings. I believe these are the most popular places in the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus for walkers to cross paths.
Montana Street is at the top of my map showing us the North side and Belden is near the bottom showing us the South part of the map. We also get a sense of direction by my labeling of the main academic buildings on the Lincoln Park DePaul Campus. The directions the walkers are going show us the focal points of the campus. The majority of the people walking are going towards some sort of main academic building. While including all the academic buildings I also made sure to put in as many of the sidewalks as I could because this in turn gives us more detail to where the walkers are going. Showing the directions people are walking on my map gives us an inside look on how alive the public space on campus is. When we see a dot on the map it represents someone who was actively walking their and using public space to get somewhere.
All the buildings on the map where put their in a strategic fashion to make walking easy and efficient. My map reflects Chicago as a whole because along with all the buildings the city provides us the people walking it makes the city alive. All people on their own path leaving their unique mark on the city as they walk is what makes Chicago living and always constantly changing. People get new experiences through walking everyday even if its down the same sidewalk or path because of the forever changing city you get a fresh perspective every trip.
Something that I believe would influence my map and my walking would be the weather, as it probably does for others. If the weather was worse during the days were I recorded people walking I could have seen less amount of activity around campus. The amount of dots on my map would decrease drastically. Showing us a change of pace in the activity of walking all throughout the campus. Walking is not only used to reach a destination or exercise, but also a way to discover new places and clear the mind to grant yourself a sense of peace. When walking you may have a thought out route to take, but at times you might find yourself walking with no real destination. In the article Heaven’s Gaits Gopnik tells us at times “You go where your feet take you.”
In this quote he tells us that you can go wherever your mind leads you and it’s beneficial for your health to have it lead the way. It could be towards a specific destination or to none at all. The fact that you let the walking take control means you are truly being connected to your surroundings. Not knowing what you could encounter during a spontaneous walk is what makes new every time. To me walking makes me feel connected to nature and helps me generate new ideas especially when trying to complete homework. When walking you can get a feeling of connection to those around you and in the process you are utilizing public space. Observing routes of other people makes me wonder what other ways they could have taken to reach where they’re going.
Overall, the discover class Walking Chicago has shown me that there’s more to walking than what meets the eye. People can see walking as a mere exercise that we do everyday, but while looking past most people’s perceptions we can identify many ways of how walking affects you positively. Walking helps you get to your destination while in the process leaving a path of the route you took as a permanent marker to the countless other walkers that may be walking across your same pathway. Walking also helps you stay connected with not only other people, but nature as well. Discovering new things and being curious while walking makes it so every time you take a new journey whether you have a destination or not a fresh experience. It helps connect your mind to the body and the body to the world.
